Giant robots that fight off inhuman nasties are set to be, well, big this year - and we don’t just mean in terms of height. With another Transformers film on the way and Guillermo del Toro bringing the world Pacific Rim, Warner Bros. is pressing ahead with another big mecha project and has locked down Nic Mathieu to direct its film version of Robotech.

Though it seems odd that Warners would be planning such a similar project to its own Pacific Rim, we suppose it figures audiences will be primed and ready for more giant robots, particularly if del Toro's film delivers.

In fact, the studio has been working on this one since before Rim was a twinkle in writer Travis Beacham’s eye. In development at the studio since 2007, Robotech was born out of the 1980s Japanese anime, bought by Harmony Gold USA and Japan’s Tatsunoko Productions, which re-edited and redubbed three different series to make into a daily syndicated ‘toon for audiences in the US and elsewhere.

Using technology developed from a crashed alien spaceship, mankind builds machines to fend off three different alien invasions, including one race of huge warriors none too happy about us pinching their tech and power source.

Tobey Maguire remains attached to produce (he was going to star at one point, and may still take that role), and various scribes – including Lawrence Kasdan and I Am Number Four co-writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar – have laboured on the script, but Mathieu marks the first named selected as director.

He doesn’t have any film credits, but has been producing impressive ads and is already developing two other projects, including secretive, David Koepp-penned sci-fi The Wind and alien drama The Story Of Your Life with Shawn Levy as producer. You can see one of Mathieu’s ads below.